Amendment to the Business Corporations Act

AMENDMENT TO THE BUSINESS CORPORATIONS ACT (ONTARIO) 2016

There is a new requirement for every Ontario corporation to prepare and maintain, at its registered office, a register of its ownership interests in land in Ontario. This change is effective December 10, 2016.

Currently, Part XI of the Business Corporations Act (the “Act”) requires Ontario corporations to prepare and maintain various books and records, including the articles and by-laws, any unanimous shareholder agreements, minutes of meetings and resolutions of shareholders, as well as registers of the directors and corporate securities. Now the Act will require an Ontario corporation to maintain a detailed list of its real property holdings.

New Section 140.1(1) of the Act specifically states that “a corporation shall prepare and maintain at its registered office a register of its ownership interests in land in Ontario”.

Subsection 140.1(2) of the Act states that, at a minimum, the register must identify each property and indicate the acquisition date. When the property is sold, that date must be recorded in the register. Each corporation will also be required to keep supporting documentation with the register such as deeds, transfers or similar documents that contain the following information:

• the municipal address (if any);
• the registry or land titles division and the property identifier number;
• the legal description; and
• the assessment role number (if any).

For assistance with this process feel free to contact the experts at Hogg, Shain and Scheck today.